urn:taro:tslac.30021Texas Adjutant General's Department:An Inventory of Adjutant General's Civil War Records at the Texas State
Archives,
1855, 1860-1866, undated, bulk 1861-1865Finding aid by Tony BlackThis EAD finding aid was created in part with funds provided
by the Texas Telecommunications Infrastructure Fund Board for the Texas
Archival Resources Online project.Texas State Library and Archives CommissionApril 2002Text converted and initial EAD tagging provided by Apex Data
Services,
December 2000.Finding aid written in English.Description based on
DACS.May 2010.Revised by
Tony Black, March 2002.Revised by
Tony Black, July 22, 2003.Revised by TARO,
Overview
Texas. Adjutant General's
Dept.Civil War
records1855,
1860-1866, undated bulk 1861-1865With the Civil War came the reorganization of the office of Texas Adjutant General, an act of
December 25, 1861 creating an Adjutant and Inspector General, who would also
serve as Quartermaster and Commissary General, and Ordnance Officer. Oversight
of the 33 Brigades of the Texas State Troops plus the Frontier Regiment fell to
this office. Two other governmental entities were also involved in Texas during this time: Confederate officials, and Union troops. These records include
correspondence, military orders, monthly returns, records of the sick and
wounded, reports of guards, morning reports, pay vouchers, reports and payrolls
of hired persons, tax-in-kind records, and quartermaster records (contracts,
vouchers, statements, estimates of funds required, receipts of public funds,
and various abstracts). They comprise the Civil War-era records of the Texas
State Troops (including Frontier Regiment and Mounted Regiment records);
certain records of the Confederate States Army; and certain records of Union
forces in Texas. Dates covered are 1855, 1860-1866, undated, bulk 1861-1865.These materials are written predominately in
English.17.96 cubic
ft.
Restrictions on Access

Materials do not circulate, but may be used in the State Archives
search room. Materials will be retrieved from and returned to storage areas by
staff members.

Restrictions on Use

Most records created by Texas state agencies are not copyrighted and
may be freely used in any way. State records also include materials
received
by, not created by, state agencies. Copyright remains with the creator. The
researcher is responsible for complying with U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17
U.S.C.).

Technical Requirements

None.

Agency History

After the annexation of Texas into the United States, the 1st
Legislature provided for an Adjutant General to be appointed by the Governor,
in an Act to organize the Militia of the State of
Texas (April 21, 1846). The duties which fell to the Adjutant General
included the issuance of all military orders; the maintenance of records of
appointments, promotions, resignations, deaths, commissions, etc.; the receipt
of monthly and annual returns, and muster rolls from the various military
units; the keeping of the records of general courts martial; and recruitment
and enrollment of Rangers and militiamen. The position of Adjutant General was
itself reestablished by the Militia Law of February 14, 1860, by which act he
also assumed the duties of Quartermaster General and Ordnance Officer of the
State.

On February 1, 1861, the delegates to the Texas Secession Convention
adopted an ordinance of secession, which was approved by the voters of the
state on February 23. In early March the convention reassembled, declared Texas
out of the Union, and adopted a measure making Texas one of the states in the
newly formed Confederate States of America.

With the Civil War came the reorganization of the office, an act of
December 25, 1861 creating an Adjutant and Inspector General, who would also
serve as Quartermaster and Commissary General, and Ordnance Officer. Oversight
of the 33 Brigades of the Texas State Troops plus the Frontier Regiment fell to
this office, just as later Adjutants General would split their time between the
Militia and the Rangers (whatever the prevailing terminology). The manpower and
supply demands of the Confederate States Army, often conflicting with the needs
and desires of the State of Texas, would affect the entire period of the
war.

Most of the major battles of the Civil War were fought east of the
Mississippi River. Ironically, the last battle of the war was a victory by John
S. Ford over Union forces at Palmito Ranch near Brownsville on May 13, 1865,
slightly more than a month after Lee's surrender at Appomattox Courthouse.
General E. Kirby Smith formally surrendered the Trans-Mississippi Department on
June 2, and Union forces under General Gordon Granger entered Galveston on June
19, 1865.

Scope and Contents of the Records

With the Civil War came the reorganization of the office of Texas Adjutant General, an act of
December 25, 1861 creating an Adjutant and Inspector General, who would also
serve as Quartermaster and Commissary General, and Ordnance Officer. Oversight
of the 33 Brigades of the Texas State Troops plus the Frontier Regiment fell to
this office. In addition, two other governmental entities were involved in Texas during this time: Confederate officials, and Union troops.

These records include correspondence, military orders, monthly
returns, records of the sick and wounded, reports of guards, morning reports,
pay vouchers, reports and payrolls of hired persons, tax-in-kind records, and
quartermaster records (contracts, vouchers, statements, estimates of funds
required, receipts of public funds, and various abstracts). They comprise the
Civil War-era records of the Texas State Troops (including Frontier Regiment
and Mounted Regiment records); certain records of the Confederate States Army;
and certain records of Union forces in Texas. Dates covered are 1855, 1860-1866,
undated, bulk 1861-1865.

The inventories for the Adjutant General's Civil War records are in two separate
finding aids due to electronic file size limitations imposed by TARO. If you
are reading this electronically, click on the link
Texas State Troops records to go to the full
finding aids for that group. If you are reading this in paper, the series finding aids are
found at separate dividers within the binder.

Organization of the Records

These records are organized by state archives staff into three groups:

Corrections and further encoding to TARO project standards by
Tony Black, March 2002

Finding aid converted from EAD 1.0 to 2002 by TARO using the
conversion stylesheet v1to02.xsl, July 2003

Split into two finding aids, and further encoding to DACS standards by
Tony Black, May 2010

Accession Information

Accession numbers: 1931/003, 1933/001, 1933/005

The Texas Adjutant General's Department transferred the vast
majority of these records to the Texas State Archives on February 21, 1934. In
addition, the Secretary of State transferred two volumes on November 5, 1931,
and another volume on February 27, 1934.

With the Civil War came the reorganization of the office of Texas Adjutant General, an act of
December 25, 1861 creating an Adjutant and Inspector General, who would also
serve as Quartermaster and Commissary General, and Ordnance Officer. Oversight
of the 33 Brigades of the Texas State Troops plus the Frontier Regiment fell to
this office.

These records consist of Brigade correspondence of Texas State
Troops; correspondence concerning conscription; general, special, and circular
orders of military entities (of both the State of Texas and the Confederate
States of America); Ranger records of the Frontier Regiment and the Mounted
Regiment, Texas State Troops; records of the sick and wounded; and
quartermaster records (including both State of Texas Quartermasters and
Confederate Quartermasters). They date 1861-1865, and undated.

The inventories for the Adjutant General's Civil War records are in two separate
finding aids due to electronic file size limitations imposed by TARO. If you
are reading this electronically, click on the link
Texas State Troops records to go to the full
finding aid. If you are reading this in paper, the series finding aids are
found at separate dividers within the binder.

Confederate records,
1861-1865, undated, 5.16 cubic ft.

Although these records were transferred by the Texas Adjutant General's Department, the role of that state official in the creation of these Confederate (national) documents is unknown. The manpower and
supply demands of the Confederate States Army, often conflicting with the needs
and desires of the State of Texas, would affect the entire period of the
war.

These records consist of Confederate Quartermaster correspondence,
contracts, vouchers, statements, estimates of funds required, receipts of
public funds, various abstracts, reports and payrolls of hired persons,
tax-in-kind records, reports of guards, morning reports, and miscellaneous
volumes, relating almost entirely to Texas, dating 1861-1865, and undated. The
researcher should note that additional Confederate records can be found among
the previously described Texas State Troops Military
orders, Quartermaster returns, and
Quartermaster requisitions.

Organization

These records have been organized by State Archives staff into fourteen series:

The Texas Adjutant General's Department transferred the vast
majority of these records to the Texas State Archives on February 21, 1934.

Restrictions on Access

Materials do not circulate, but may be used in the State Archives
search room. Materials will be retrieved from and returned to storage areas by
staff members.

Restrictions on Use

Most records created by Texas state agencies are not copyrighted and
may be freely used in any way. State records also include materials
received
by, not created by, state agencies. Copyright remains with the creator. The
researcher is responsible for complying with U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17
U.S.C.).

Processed by

Processing and original finding aid by Tony Black, October 1986

Corrections and revisions by Tony Black, May 1988

Quartermaster correspondence,
1861-1865,
undated,0.77 cubic ft.

These records consist of letters to (and to a lesser extent
from) the various offices of the Confederate Quartermaster, involving Texas,
dating 1861-1865, and undated. The majority of the items are addressed to (and
from) the following individuals:

These records consist of Confederate vouchers authorizing
payment to individuals and firms for goods and services expended on account of
Confederate military needs, dating 1861-1865. Most are also marked with a later
annotation of receipt.

Arrangement

These records are arranged by State Archives staff by sites in Texas, sites outside of
Texas, and no location. Within each of these groups, the records are arranged alphabetically by camp/fort/station, and chronologically therein.

These records consist of financial statements of Confederate
military posts and organizations, including monthly summary statements of funds
received and disbursed, and accounts current,
which are usually quarterly statements, in somewhat more detail, of all moneys
received and expended. They date 1861-1864.

Arrangement

These records are arranged by State Archives staff by sites in Texas, sites outside of
Texas, and no location. Within each of these groups, the records are arranged alphabetically by camp/fort/station, and chronologically therein.

These records consist of estimates of funds required from the
Confederate States government by the quartermasters of various military posts
and organizations, 1861-1862. Most if not all of the camps and stations are
outside of Texas.

Arrangement

These records are arranged by State Archives staff by camp or station, and
chronologically therein.

These records consist of receipts of Confederate quartermaster
funds, for subsistence and for contingencies, dating 1861-1865.

Arrangement

These records are arranged by State Archives staff by sites in Texas, sites outside of
Texas, and no location. Within each of these groups, the records are arranged alphabetically by camp/fort/station, and chronologically therein.

These records consist of abstracts of advances and allowances
made to officers, of disbursements on account of contingencies, of
expenditures, of transfers of public funds, and briefs of errors on commissary
and quartermaster papers. They date 1861-1865. The Confederate officials
responsible were: Major N. B. Pearce (Commissary of Subsistence), Captain James
P. McKinney (Assistant Quartermaster), Captain G. H. Leigh (Assistant
Commissary of Subsistence), Captain George C. Rives (Post Quartermaster, 2nd
Congressional District), and Captain John R. King (Assistant Commissary of
Subsistence, 1st Regiment, Texas Mounted Riflemen, Provisional Confederate
States Army).

Arrangement

These records are arranged by State Archives staff by the Confederate official
responsible, and therein chronologically.

These records consist of reports and receipt rolls (payrolls)
for hired persons and extra duty men (non-commissioned officers and privates
employed on extra duty as mechanics and laborers), dating 1861-1865, for the
following Confederate officers:

Because of the scarcity of sound currency during the Civil War,
the Confederate States government created a method in April 1863 whereby troops
could be provisioned without placing an overwhelming burden upon farmers. This
tax-in-kind, often called the tithe or tenth, included the following
commodities: grain (corn, wheat, oats, rye, buckwheat, rice); forage (hay and
fodder); potatoes (Irish and sweet); peas and beans; wool; cotton; sugar and
molasses; tobacco; and bacon. The tax-in-kind was delivered to a regional
depot; the depot agents would in turn see that the tithe was properly
distributed to the troops. Nearly all of the tax-in-kind records found in the
Texas State Archives pertain to the 2nd Congressional District, which was
divided into 18 depots, representing the following counties: Austin, Bastrop,
Bell, Brazoria, Burleson, Burnet and Lampasas, Caldwell, Colorado, Fayette, Ft.
Bend, Jackson, Lavaca, Matagorda, Milam, Travis, Washington, Wharton, and
Williamson. The Post Quartermaster in charge of these tax-in-kind transactions
was Captain George C. Rives, who was headquartered in Austin. See pages 43-52
of James L. Nichols' The Confederate Quartermaster in the
Trans-Mississippi (1964).

These records consist of receipts and reports of articles
received as tax-in-kind, lists of delinquent taxpayers who owe tax-in-kind
(including one oversized list of 602 taxpayers from Fayette County, June 28,
1864), plus requisitions and other quartermaster documents that directly
involve the disposition of articles received as tax-in-kind. They date
1863-1865 (bulk 1864).

There is also a volume that contains an assortment of
tax-in-kind records from George C. Rives' office, including abstracts, reports
of persons and articles employed and hired, tax-in-kind reports, and monthly
summary statements. A note on page 164 of the volume states:
From this page on to the end of the volume defaced by
carpet bag soldiers who had this records in their possession.

Arrangement

These records are arranged by State Archives staff alphabetically by county (see the
chart below), and therein chronologically.

These records consist of two kinds of tax-in-kind documents,
dating 1863-1864: estimates of cotton, sugar, molasses, tobacco, and bacon
tithes, for March-May 1864 (the majority of them in April); and estimates of
grain, forage, potato, and wool tithes, for December 1863-June 1864. Only two
counties are represented, Lavaca and Williamson. Each of these narrow strips of
paper is signed by both the individual taxpayer and the county
appraiser/assessor (Washington Anderson for Williamson County, H. K. Judd for
Lavaca County). Those from Williamson County are endorsed on the back by the
agent of Depot Number 3; those from Lavaca County are endorsed only
Paid in Full.

Arrangement

These records are arranged by State Archives staff by county, and therein
chronologically.

These records consist of reports of persons employed by the
various agents for collection of the tax-in-kind in the 2nd Congressional
District, plus some payrolls and rolls of extra-duty men in those depots. They
date 1863-1865. Also included (in the first folder) are the following: a list
of agents and subagents employed in collection of the tax-in-kind in the 2nd
Congressional District; a report of agents on duty for Captain G. H. Leigh; a
reports of persons transferred to Captain William Cook (Assistant
Quartermaster) by Captain George C. Rives (October 1864); and a descriptive
list of persons employed in the Quartermaster Department and transferred by
Captain Rives to Captain E. Sampson (Assistant Quartermaster) in January 1865.

Arrangement

These records are arranged by State Archives staff alphabetically by county, and
chronologically therein.

Reports of hired
persons401-8581.2nd Congressional District,
1864-1865401-8582.Austin County,
1864401-8583.Bastrop County,
1863-1864401-8584.Bell County,
1864401-8585.Brazoria County,
1864401-8586.Burleson County,
1864401-8587.Caldwell County,
1863-1864401-8588.Colorado County,
1864401-8589.Fayette County,
1864401-85810.Fort Bend County,
1863-1864401-85811.Lampasas and Burnet Counties,
1864401-85812.Lavaca County,
1864401-85813.Matagorda County,
1864401-85814.Milam County,
1864401-85815.Travis County,
1863401-85816. Travis County,
1864401-85817.Washington County,
1864401-85818.Williamson County,
1864Reports of slave impressment,
1863,
1865,fractional

These records consist of two oversized rolls or reports of slave
labor impressed during the Civil War, dating 1863 and 1865. The first is a roll
of slaves hired for the Quartermaster Department, Confederate States Army at
Seguin, Texas, for July and August 1863. It gives the following information:
number, name of slave, names of owners, number of slaves owned by each,
residence (including both Guadalupe and Caldwell Counties), date of hire, age,
and remarks. The second is a report of the assessment of Negroes in Wilson
County, Texas, dated May 16, 1865. Information on this roll includes: name of
owner or employer, number in possession, number in service, number due the
service (and number to be retained in the service) and for what length of time.
See the following in Texas State Troops records, Military
orders: General Order 1 (January 1, 1865) for Headquarters, District of
Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona, giving the rules and regulations for the Bureau
of Negro Labor; and Special Order 1 (April 20, 1865) for Headquarters, Labor
Bureau, Western Sub-District, San Antonio, regarding Wilson County.

These records consist of six volumes (including one strictly of
photostatic copies), all relating to Colonel O. M. Roberts' 11th Texas Regiment
of Infantry, Confederate States Army, dating 1862-1865. Two volumes (those
marked I and III)
contain reports of guards mounted at various camps (Camp Lubbock in Volume I,
and a number of camps in Arkansas in Volume III). Five volumes (all except
Volume III) contain morning reports of various camps, mostly in Arkansas,
1862-1865. Additional material in some of the volumes includes, for example, a
description book of officers with names, rank,
date of appointment, transfers, leaves of absence, time absent, where born, and
remarks; and some copies of correspondence.

In addition are a handful of loose morning reports and returns:
three for Captain Edward A. Stevens' company of Texas Cavalry in Colonel P. C.
Woods' regiment (1862-1864); one for Captain William L. Foster's company of
Texas Cavalry in Colonel Woods' regiment (1862); and one for Colonel J. B.
Robertson's 5th Texas Regiment, Texas Brigade, near Richmond, Virginia
(undated).

These records consist of two volumes, dating 1862-1869 (bulk
1862-1865). One is primarily a cash book of balance sheets, June 1862-February
1865, of accounts of such persons as Captain James P. McKinney, Major N. B.
Pearce, and William H. King. It also contains odd items such as a copy of a
Special Order dated 1866, and a copy of a court martial order dated 1869. The
second volume is marked on the cover U.S.A. Hospital
Department, Medical Case Book; but while it does contain some medical
case notes from March 1863, most of the volume is dedicated to individual
Confederate officers' accounts for provisions, 1863-1864.

Union troops did play a role within the borders of the State of Texas, at the beginning and toward the end of the Civil War. These are not truly records of the Texas Adjutant General's Department, although they have traditionally been described within this record group.

These records consist of Union correspondence (both loose and in a
bound volume), military orders, monthly returns, pay vouchers, a morning
report, reports of guards, a hospital payroll, and a miscellaneous volume. They
comprise records of Union troops in Texas, 1855, 1860-1866 (bulk
1863-1864).

Organization

These records have been organized by State Archives staff into eight series:

Two volumes were discovered... in an
obscure corner of the basement of the State Department, and transferred
to the Texas State Archives by Texas Secretary of State Jane Y. McCallum on
November 5, 1931. Another volume, labeled somewhat misleadingly
Letters received, 1864, was transferred to the
Texas State Archives by the Texas Secretary of State on February 27, 1934. The
Texas Adjutant General's Department probably transferred the other Union troops
records to the Texas State Archives on February 21, 1934.

Restrictions on Access

Materials do not circulate, but may be used in the State Archives
search room. Materials will be retrieved from and returned to storage areas by
staff members.

Restrictions on Use

Most records created by Texas state agencies are not copyrighted and
may be freely used in any way. State records also include materials
received
by, not created by, state agencies. Copyright remains with the creator. The
researcher is responsible for complying with U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17
U.S.C.).

Processed by

Processing and original finding aid by Tony Black, October 1986

Corrections and revisions by Tony Black, May 1988

Union correspondence, 1863-1864,fractional

These records consist of Union correspondence in two forms,
loose and in a bound volume, dating 1863-1864.

The loose correspondence contains approximately 68 letters
between and among the various organizations of Union troops in Texas during
1863 and 1864. This includes: approximately 17 letters (mostly commissions)
from the Assistant Adjutant General, Headquarters, Department of the Gulf, to
the commanding officer of the 2nd Texas Cavalry; approximately 13 letters
(mostly in the nature of orders) from Colonel E. J. Davis (Headquarters, Texas
Cavalry Forces) to the various commanding officers of the 2nd Texas Cavalry;
about 18 items from those commanding officers back to Colonel Davis; about 4
letters from Headquarters, United States Forces on the Rio Grande to Colonel
Davis; and approximately 16 letters to the commander of the 2nd Texas Cavalry
from a variety of offices: the Ordnance Office in Washington, D.C., the Post
Hospital in Brownsville, the War Department in Washington, D.C., the 2nd
Division of the 13th Crops, the Office of the Provost Marshal in Brownsville,
Headquarters of Cavalry Forces of the 19th Army Corps, and the United States
General Marine Hospital.

The bound volume, labeled somewhat misleadingly
Letters received, 1864, contains copies of letters
to and from various Union military organizations, including the headquarters
and the various commanding and staff officers of the 1st Texas Cavalry
Volunteers, the U.S. Forces on the Rio Grande, the War Department in
Washington, D.C., etc. There is no index included.

Accession Information

Accession number: 1933/005

The bound volume, labeled somewhat misleadingly
Letters received, 1864, was transferred to the
Texas State Archives by the Texas Secretary of State on February 27, 1934.

These records consist of approximately 61 General Orders, 43
Special Orders, and 30 Circulars emanating from the various headquarters of
Union forces in or near Texas, 1863-1864. Those organizations include: United
States Forces on the Rio Grande at Brownsville; Texas Cavalry Brigade near
Brownsville; Cavalry Forces of the 19th Army Corps at Morganzia, Louisiana; the
2nd Division, 13th Army Corps at Brownsville; the Department of the Gulf at New
Orleans and at Alexandria, Louisiana; the Military Division of the Western
Mississippi at New Orleans; and the War Department, Adjutant General, in
Washington, D.C. These orders are mostly holographic, rarely printed.

Arrangement

These records are arranged by State Archives staff by type of order (General, Special,
or Circular), and therein chronologically.

These records consist of monthly returns for the 1st Regiment of
Infantry, United States Army, stationed in or near Texas before, during, and
after the Civil War, 1855 and 1865-1866. The one pre-Civil War return is for
August 1855, for Colonel Joseph Plympton's command, with headquarters at Ft.
McKavett, Texas. The other 14 returns date January through December 1865, and
May and July 1866; these are Colonel Robert C. Buchanan's regiment,
headquartered at New Orleans.

Information contained on these returns includes: stations of
companies and names of company captains; numbers of officers and enlisted men
present and absent, both by status (e.g., sick)
and by rank; alterations (gain/loss) since the last monthly return; numbers of
horses and pieces of artillery; enlisted men on extra duty, accounted for by
name; absent enlisted men accounted for by name; commissioned officers present
and absent (names, ranks, and stations); and alterations among enlisted men
since the last return (name, rank, company, date, place, and remarks).

These records consist of eight pay vouchers plus one abstract of
payments made to United States troops by Lieutenant Colonel P. N. Luckett,
Quartermaster and Acting Commissioner of the State of Texas, between November
1860 and March 1861. The officers paid include a captain and a 2nd lieutenant
of the U.S. 2nd Cavalry, a 1st and a 2nd lieutenant of the U.S. 1st Infantry,
and assistant surgeons of the U.S. Army; also, one corporal and one
musician.

These records consist of one daily consolidated morning report
of the 42nd Regiment of Massachusetts Volunteers, stationed at Long Island, New
York (November-December 1862). A notation on the reverse reads:
To Colonel J. Y. Dashiell, Adjutant and Inspector
General, Austin, from Brigadier General Thomas B. Howard.

These records consist of a volume--without boards--containing
reports of guards of the 1st Regiment, Texas Cavalry, United States Army,
mounted at Brownsville and later at Baton Rouge, Louisiana, between April 6,
1864 and May 4, 1865. Information on the reports includes: numbers of officers
and men of each rank; lists of articles in charge; lists of the guard of the
1st, 2nd, and 3rd relief (with times of day indicated), by name, company,
regiment, where posted, and remarks; the names of the sergeant, corporal,
orderly for the commanding officer, and best shot; and a list of prisoners, by
name, company, regiment, when and by whom confined, charges, sentence, and
remarks.

Accession Information

Accession number: 1931/003

This record, along with the one immediately following, were
discovered... in an obscure corner of the basement of the
State Department, and transferred to the Texas State Archives by Texas
Secretary of State Jane Y. McCallum on November 5, 1931.

These records consist of a volume that contains a variety of
Union troop records, dated 1863-1865:

a roster of commissioned officers of the 2nd Regiment,
Texas Cavalry Volunteers, stationed at Brownsville; a descriptive list of Company A (and a fragmentary list
for Company B), of the 2nd Regiment, Texas Cavalry Volunteers, including such
information as name, rank, age, eyes, hair, complexion, height, birthplace,
occupation, when, where, and by whom enrolled and mustered; some copies of correspondence, 1863-1864; receipts for ordnance stores, camp and garrison
equipage, and quartermaster stores, March 1865; and lists of issues to individual men.

A notation on the inside of the back cover of this volume reads:
G. H. Radetski, Captain Company M, 1st Texas Volunteer
Cavalry, Morganzia, Louisiana, September 15, 1864.

Accession Information

Accession number: 1931/003

This volume was transferred to the Texas State Archives by the
Texas Secretary of State on November 5, 1931.